Beer duty – brewers and pubs toast “Hat-trick Hero” Chancellor

18/03/15

Brigid Simmonds, Chief Executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, comments on the penny cut in beer duty just announced in the Budget:

“The Chancellor really is a ‘Hat Trick Hero’. His third, successive beer tax cut shows he has listened to consumers, publicans and brewers.

“Beer tax is now ten pence lower than it would have been under the beer duty escalator, which he abolished.

“It will boost employment by 3,800 this year alone and attract new capital investment. It will put 180 million pounds in the pockets of beer drinkers and pubgoers. That is a huge difference.

“Cutting beer duty supports a great British Industry which contributes £22 billion to GDP and supports almost 900,000 jobs. It’s also a boost for pubs, as beer accounts for seven out every ten alcohol drinks sold in our pubs.

“The renewed confidence in our sector is reflected in rising beer sales in 2014, for the first time in a decade.

“There is of course more work to de done, and we look forward to persuading MPs in the next Parliament that further action is needed to encourage consumers towards our lower-strength, British-made national drink."

Notes to editors:

BBPA Chief Executive Brigid Simmonds is based in Central London and is available for interviews

Duty on a typical pint of 4% abv beer following a one penny cut: 42p
Beer, pubs and Budget 2015 – key facts:
• The beer and pub sector supports 870,000 jobs - 44 per cent are under 25s
• 82 per cent of the beer sold in Britain is made in Britain
• One job in brewing generates 18 jobs, in pubs, one in agriculture, one in the supply chain and one in retail.
• Pubs rely on beer sales - seven in every ten pub drinks sold is beer.
• Under the beer duty escalator (2008-2013) beer tax rose by 42 per cent. During this period, 7,000 pubs closed and 58,000 jobs were lost.
• With the abolition of the escalator, the two, one penny beer duty cuts in 2013 and 2014 have secured 16,000 jobs.
• After years of above inflation tax rises, beer taxes are still too high. Britons pay 39 per cent of all EU beer duties, but drink just 12 per cent of the beer.
• Beer price increases in pubs are at their lowest since the 1980s.